Jackson alum Quinton Borders hits first home run with Catfish

Quinton Borders hit his first home run as a Catfish to highlight a causal 9-0 win over the Alton River Dragons on Wednesday in Capaha Field.

It was a sequence of emotions for the third baseman. He felt like it had a chance immediately after making contact. Hope seemed to dip as soon as the left fielder stopped. Then he turned around towards the outfield wall and started chasing.

“I was like, ‘Oh, it's got a chance,’ but I didn't really think about it until people started cheering,” Borders said.

It was his only hit in a five-at-bat day, but it counted for three runs, furthering the Catfish’s already insurmountable lead in the fifth inning.

“I kind of been rolling the ball,” Borders said, “then in the third at-bat, I kind of elevated it. So I was really just trying to think line drive in the gap, just put something in play.”

Borders joined the Catfish immediately after leading Jackson High School to the MSHSAA Class 6 semifinals for the first time in program history. He is currently batting .302 against a mixture of junior college and Division I pitching this summer.

“Honestly, the only difference is I feel like the young guy, and that's about it,” Borders said. “They've accepted me pretty well and it's been fun. It's been a good experience.”

Playing for the Catfish has reunited him with fellow former Jackson stars Caden Bogenpohl, Cameron Marchi, and Lane Crowden.

"It's been really cool because Lane, I've always looked up to him, and I never really got a chance to play with him," Borders said. "He's shown me a lot. It's been awesome, and having Marchi back, it's been awesome too."

Wednesday was the Catfish's second straight shutout victory. Raymond Ochoa started the game with four strikeouts in five shutout innings. The Notre Dame alum Kam Dohogne came out of the bullpen to throw three scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

RBI singles by Jacob Danneman and Chris Hall gave the Catfish an early two-run lead in the second inning. The Catfish added two more runs in the third inning after two straight batters were hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Cal Kilgore hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning before Borders' home run. Dante Zamudio reached on a fielder's choice that led to the Catfish's final run in the eighth inning.

When the Catfish entered the ninth inning leading by nine runs, it was outfielder Jeff Clarke's turn to toe the rubber. He pitched a perfect inning to close the game.

The two teams will meet again at Capaha Field on Friday, July 21, followed by a weekend series with the Normal CornBelters.